Usually cool and collected, Jennifer Connelly goes against type as a unhinged single mom in Dustin Lance Black‘s directorial debut, Virginia, coming to theaters on Friday.

The filmweaves together both comedic and tragic storylines, including Connelly’s desperate bid for her longtime lover (Ed Harris), her son’s attempts to discover his father’s identity, a botched bank robbery, a shootout, a fake pregnancy, a cross-dressing arcade manager and more.